whether you want me or not, i'm here
by meva desa
Summary: slightly AU, I only changed one decision Cameron wants to help maybe thirteen will let her
1. Chapter 1

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Title: Helping hand

Paring: thirteen and Cameron

Disclaimer: I don't own anything about the show, if I did thirteen wouldn't be dying

Summery: AU (slightly, (I changed one decision)) Cameron wants to help maybe thirteen will let her

P.S be nice it's only my second fic, I'm trying, honest

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I've been watching her for a while now, ever since she started volunteering every night in the ER, it's been two months since she found out she was dying and she hasn't done anything about it, everyone's tried to help Kutner made her balloon animals which I thought was sweet, Taub tried talking although I don't think she heard anything he said, House told her to get over it which is just like him, Foreman even offered a spot in a drug trial he's running but she turned it down, it's like trying to help her is a game of dominoes and if that's so I guess it's my turn to get knocked down.

I can't be sure but I think I know what the problem is, with everything I've observed in the past 3 weeks and everything my husband told me I'm pretty sure I can actually help, I know I should at least try because I believe when a good person dies someone should notice, someone should care the same goes for when they're dying.

It's 7 pm now she will be here soon and I still don't have a clue about how I'm going do this but I better think of something fast because she just walked in and is heading straight for me

'hi, your properly getting sick of me saying this but do you need any help here?'

Wow, she's trying so hard

'if I say no will that stop you from grabbing a file?'

'nope' ' then please, help yourself'.

It's the same routine every night, she asks if I need help, I say yes, she grabs chart after chart till she leaves at 11 too exhausted to say goodnight ,

How do I do this?

What do I say?

She's so beautiful, yet so sad….

'?, you okay?' huh?

'oh, uh… yeah, yeah I'm fine Jodie'

'ok, if your sure'

'I'm sure, thanks for the concern' if only it was real, I've got to remember to stop staring at her, nurse Jodie is already trying to get my job so I better not stuff up again or I won't be able to help anyone, anyway back to work….

10:58

I've got to do this before she leaves, I thought of an idea about an hour ago and it's perfect because it only requires me to say one line.

10:59

before I know what I'm doing I'm walking straight towards her a nurse tries to get my attention but I don't stop, faster I walk, she's seen me she gives me that cute confused look, come on 7 more steps….6…5…4…3…2…1 I take her hand and give her my ipod, I put a lot of carefully selected songs on there earlier, I really hope this helps…

'you know there are easier ways to fill the silence'

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ok, wow that was my first piece of writing in a while so I'd really appreciate your thoughts, so how about clicking the little review button?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

2 months…

2 months since I found out I was dying, I guess I always knew it was a possibility I just didn't expect it to happen.

Now I've only just moved past the self-destructive phase, it lasted for way too long, I realised it didn't really help, that nothing helps unless it's in the moment, that as long as I'm focused and have a task to do the pain and anger just slips away unnoticed, as long as I'm doing something I don't feel anything.

After I realised this I started thinking about the things I could do, I knew there wasn't much outside the hospital I could do that didn't involve a bar and I certainly didn't want another job anyway, so that only left inside the hospital, the clinics not open at night and unless House has a patient that meets his complex criteria the ER was the only place left.

It's funny but doctors are suppose to care for others, and even though I care I also don't, it's confusing and this is why I need something to do, because when I'm alone it's quiet, and silence speaks the truth, but as I'm walking down to the ER I can't help but wonder,

If doctors care about others, who do doctors go to when they need to be cared for?.

I'd never admit this, just like I'd never that I'd like someone to care for me but I actually like the ER, it's run by Cameron the Compassionate and it's always busy – perfect.

'hi, your properly getting sick of me saying this but do you need any help here?'

Cameron was watching me when I came in, in fact she's been watching me since I started coming here 3 weeks ago, I don't think she knows that I know.

'If I say no will that stop you from grabbing a file?'

'Nope' I say

'Then please, help yourself'.

She smiled; I like it when she smiles

So I grabbed chart after chart like always all the while noticing that Cameron was staring at me again and Nurse Jodie was glaring at her again, I've never seen anyone so desperate to run a mad house before,

_huh? That's weird, _Cameron just left, properly forgot something but strange because as long as Nurse Jodie's around Cameron makes twice the effort and never leaves, _whatever it is must be important_,

Anyway back to work.

10:50

you know there is a reason I leave at 11pm every night, it's because right around now one of the nurses on the other side of the hospital is pushing some of the medical supply carts out of view of the security cameras and into the medicine supply store near the clinic and because no ones there it's the perfect place for him to get high and he even has a good excuse for it, well as long as he remembers to actually fill the carts up he does, anyway by the time I get there he's so stoned he doesn't even remember me sneaking in and stealing from the store, now I am out of the self-destruct phase but I really hate the silence, so it's a good thing he never notices me grabbing anything that will put me to sleep as soon I hit the mattress, it's usually sleeping pills but some medicines work too, after I find what I want I sneak back out without anyone knowing I was there, it's a pretty good set up even though I wish I didn't have to do it but the silence keeps me awake every night so I really don't have a choice.

10:58

2 more minutes left then I can get some rest, I've just finished with my last patient and I'm heading to the nurses station to give them the chart when I notice Cameron looking intensely at me, it looks like she's mentally fighting with herself, _interesting_.

I hand them the file.

10:59

I grab my things and turn to leave; I'm walking towards the door when I see something out of the corner of my eye, it's Cameron walking straight for me, _odd, she never says goodbye to me_, I stop and wait…7…6…5…4…3…2…1

she grabs my hand and places an ipod in it,

'You know there are easier ways to fill the silence'

She walks away

_Interesting_

10 minutes later when I walking to my car I wonder,

_are there really easier ways to fill the silence than to not have then at all? _

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A/N thanks for reviewing guys and a special thank you to Latin Fox who's advice really helped so thank you, and I'm sorry for confusing you guys, I guess because I came up with the story it made sense to me so I'm sorry for that, but now the second chapter is up I need more reviews to help me decide what to do next, so how about it?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

It's been 3 days since I gave her the iPod, she still comes here every night but she doesn't even ask if I need help anymore, just walks in and grabs the files and truth be told I'm a little annoyed, I mean I put myself out there and try to be nice and....nothing, not one thing so I think it's about time I made her talk to me or at least try to and all I have to do is get her alone, I need to find my ticket in.

'_Maybe I should check the forth floor janitors closet'_

Step 1

Just as I suspected there's files going up to at least 6 months back,

'Good old predictable house'

Step 2

Getting Cuddy to assign me to the team again, there are two choices for this,

1. Getting the inspector here for a surprise visit or

2. Losing a bet

House would properly go for the bet but the inspector has a proven track record so I think I'll stick with him

Step 3

Finding an interesting patient to keep house busy, the only problem with that is it will keep thirteen busy too, although I do know that house likes sending the female employee to the lab so good chance I can talk to her there, the bad part to that is I have no reason to be there and I don't want to look like I'm trying to get her alone even though that's what I'm doing, the second option is a patients house, there's the car ride there, the search and then the trip back, and if I switch the address to one of my friends houses and convince them to come home for a few hours after we break in then there's a good chance we'll get stuck in a closet, properly on the top floor which means no escape then she'll have to talk to me, but the problem there is that I'm not on the team, I'm only there to do files which means I have to make sure none of the others are able to go,

'_Wow, I never realised there was so much planning involved in getting a girl alone'_

'_Wait, that's not what I meant'_

'_Wait, I know what I meant so why am I explaining this to myself?'_

'_This girl is going to drive me crazy'_

'_Take a deep breath, ok'_

'_I need to think'_

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hi guys, sorry i took so long getting this up but i just got a new computer and it's taking awhile to get all my files onto it,

also this chapter is a bit short but i promise to get the next chapter up faster to make up for it,

so how about you tell me how i'm doing?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It's 6:30pm now and we just finished wasting 3 days on houses latest patient who would have been diagnosed earlier except for the fact that he lied to us, the good part about this patient is that he needed a lot of blood tests so Mr. Predictable sent me to the lab the whole time which means that as soon as 6pm came around I was able to get one of the nurses who owed me a favour to cover for me while I went to the ER, speaking of which it's also been 3 days since Cameron spoke to me but I suppose that's normal seeing as how I haven't spoken to her even though I've thought and thought about it, truth be told I don't know what to say, no one's ever done anything like this for me before and I'd never admit this to anyone but I'm scared if I talk to her I'll mess it up by saying something stupid.

I know some people call me emotionless but part of the reason I'm so mysterious is that I care to much, I'm just really good at hiding it, so if people think there's nothing wrong with me maybe I'll start to believe it myself, but Cameron's different and there's a part of me that wants to let her in, let her know what I'm feeling and what I think, and I don't know what it is about her that makes me feel this way.

7:00pm

The ER was the same as normal, the nurses were the same as normal, the patients seemed the same as normal, yet from the moment I stepped into the mad rush of people I knew something was off, I knew it wasn't the ER itself or the nurses or the patients, which just left the doctors.

The first half hour I was there I looked for something, anything to help me figure out what was wrong with this picture when I noticed Nurse Jodie giving out orders like a queen bee would give to the rest of the hive, that's when I noticed the real queen was missing,

Cameron wasn't here.

I looked around again to make sure and I couldn't find her anywhere,

_Cameron never leaves when Jodie's here let alone not turning up at all_

I started to ask around, the first 5 nurses had no clue and the 6th told me to ask Jodie and I figured I'd have to if I couldn't find out what happened myself.

10 minutes and 7 nurses later I decided to do the inevitable,

'Hey Jodie' I said casually, she shot me an annoyed look and said

'You don't work here what do you want?'

_How nice, well if she's going to be so blunt_

'Where's Cameron?'

She smirked 'sorry don't know where your girlfriend is' by now most of the nurses were watching

I smirked 'firstly, she's not my girlfriend and secondly, what have you done with her?'

'Nothing I'm sure you haven't done with her'

I ignored her and repeated 'where is she?'

'Don't have a clue but I'll tell you one thing, you don't work here, so quit coming down'

'Again, firstly, quit acting like a vicious bitch, that's ambers job, secondly, you're not the boss here so get over yourself'

the nurses were stunned, the few who liked Jodie were glaring while the rest were trying to hold back smiles,

In between her seething and various stages of outrage Jodie managed to say 'how dare you!'

To which I replied 'how dare you? coming in here and acting like the boss when all you are is a pathetic wannabe'

'Get out of here!' _if looks could kill..._

'Why should I? No one put you in charge, in fact I'll think I'll just go over here and stand by my... hmm, what did you call her? oh! Yes that's right! I'll think I'll stand by my girlfriends office'

By now everyone was watching so I decided to put the final nail in, I turned to the audience and said,

'Alright people, back to work'

_I should come down here more often_

As everyone went back to whatever it was they were doing and nurse Jodie stormed out of the room, I congratulated myself and made a mental note to subtly make sure that Cameron's okay, I don't think I could stand it if something bad happened to her, I also made a mental note to try and make sure House doesn't find out about my little victory, the last thing I need is him thinking that Cameron and I are together.

10 minutes passed and I was walking out when I noticed a calendar on Cameron's desk, it was small but I could clearly see a red X on the square 4 days from now.

_Interesting._

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hey guys, i know i said i'd update sooner but as it happens the night i made that promise i happened to get torticollis (wry neck) and i have been on painkillers since but it's slowly getting better now so in a day or two i should be fine.

in regards to updates i will try to get them done faster because i know how annoyed i get when the stories i like take ages to update and i wouldn't want you guys to feel that so i will start working on the next chapter right now, and thanks for being so patient with me, before this story i had only ever done one-shots so i'm glad you guys like it.

so...keep reviewing yeah?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

3 days have passed and not one interesting case I could find, now I'm getting frustrated and further away from my goal, I've decided to put a timer on my plan so if in 4 days time I'm still no closer to that cosy little closet I'll properly just corner her in the supply room or if I have enough courage go to her house.

I took yesterday night off of ER duty and yes I'm well aware that Jodie will use that as an excuse to be queen bee but I have important planning to do, besides thirteen will be there if things get out of control, she may not be speaking to me but I'm sure she doesn't want to see me lose my job, especially to Jodie.

So I was talking to my friend Josh last night about the plan and he's agreed to help, I had dinner with him and we went over every detail I had come up with, that's when he told me that I must really like this girl and as he said it I couldn't quite place the emotion on his face, somewhere between shock and amusement I suppose, and when I asked him what he meant he just looked at me, I don't think I've ever been more confused.

Later he even said that if no interesting patients came in I could infect him with him something as long as it could be cured, he was just being sweet though and I could never do that to him anyway, he's my best friend.

I had to think, I knew she was worth this but I didn't know if this would even work, I mean sure she might be stuck with me but that doesn't mean she will talk.

2 days into my timer a patient came in with no name and no memory, he had cuts, bruises, internal bleeding, fever, rash and frequent seizures, he's the perfect patient for me to use, all I have to do now is get to cuddyfast enough, if I can convince her to put me on the team I'll also give house the case, if not... well I don't think that's likely anyway.

I just really hope this works.

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A/N

hey guys, i know this is short but i think I'm running out of ideas, i need some feedback so i would like it if you could tell me anything you can think of, i need some words to make me think,

i will try and write the next chapter soon,

BTW is it just me or is this chapter totally and completely uninteresting and pointless or am i just punishing myself too hard?


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

'Ok people, new case' House said as he walked into the office,

The team were already there as usual, Foreman was reading the newspaper, Taub was drinking his coffee, Kutner was doing a crossword and Thirteen was staring at her hands lost in thought, but when House walked in they all looked up.

'New case?' Kutner echoed

'That's what I said' House replied while giving everyone the file, he stoped when he got to thirteen seeing as she wasn't paying attention,

'I know your girlfriend is hot and all but when I talk you listen, and when you talk I get to picture her naked, ok?'

Thirteen looked up at that and glared at him, 'she's not my girlfriend'

'Who's not?' House smirked

'Nobody' Thirteen answered

Cameron conveniently choose that moment to walk in carrying a really big stack of papers

'Hey Cameron, we were just talking about you' House teased

'No we weren't ' Thirteen said just that little bit too quickly,

Cameron just stared at them ' right, well if you two are done, Cuddy sent me up here to be your secretary for however long it takes me to sort out your files'

She tried to look annoyed but wasn't as successful as she hoped, or maybe it was just house being house. 'You want to be here don't you?' it was more of a statement than a question

'No house, I don't, and if you did your files I wouldn't have to be'

Foreman saw this as a chance to interrupt 'well if you two are done I believe we have a patient'

Cameron went into the other office to do the files while house started with his latest mystery

' right, today we will be treating Gilderoy Lockhart's latest victim, 28 year old man with no name, cuts, bruises, internal bleeding, fever, rash and frequent seizures, he...'

'Has no memory' Kutner interrupted

'Yes, hence the 'Gilderoy Lockhart's latest victim' part of the speech' House replied whilst looking at him dumbly for a few seconds before continuing 'he needs blood work and an MRI while someone searches his house for toxins and bacteria but before that...'

'If he has no memory how do we know where his house is?' Kutner interrupted again

House sighed 'um...psychic power?'

'He had a delivery slip in his pocket, it has his address on it' Thirteen corrected

'spoil sport, anyway as I was saying, before that someone has to go to the clinic to do my hours, so Taub, do the blood work and the MRI, Kutner and Thirteen, go to his house while Foreman does my clinic hours, now all of you scram, Cuddy took my webcam off of the bookcase in her office so now I need to find another way to look down her shirt'

They all just stared 'go already' House enforced, they all got up and started to leave,

'I can't 'everyone stopped and turned around, House limped back, 'you what?'

'I can't, I have clinical trials' Foreman repeated

'Oh, well let us not interrupt your busy schedule shall we' House replied sarcastically, then added

'Go do my clinic hours'

'Can't, I have to go, I'm late' he said as he walked out

Kutner, keen as ever said 'I'll do your clinic hours'

House smirked 'why so eager to go?' he looked at Thirteen 'trouble in paradise?'

Thirteen scowled and answered 'no he's properly just hoping you'll give him the weekend off'

Kutner looked down guiltily

'Ha! Would I do that?' House replied rhetorically, then said 'ok, Taub, you do the MRI and the blood work, Kutner, go do my clinic hours, Thirteen, go search his house and I seem to need to hire another doctor to go with you' House walked over to his office and knocked on the glass with his cane

'Cameron! put down that file!, your going with Thirteen to break into the patients house'

'That's not part of my job anymore' Cameron replied as she walked into the office

'Well it is now'

House started walking out when he reached into his pocket and walked over to Thirteen, he pulled out a webcam

'Cuddy was so kind as to return this to me' he said while holding out the webcam for Thirteen to take 'here, figured you two might need this, especially when you get to the bedroom'

Thirteen glared

'I like to watch' was his answer

Thirteen rolled her eyes and walked out, followed by Cameron, Kutner and Taub, who no one noticed had not said a word the whole time, no one also noticed that the whole time he was silently watching Cameron who was secretly listening to every word that had been said, no one also noticed that she smirked when Foreman said he had clinical trials to go to, she also smirked when House said he needed another doctor, almost like she planned it...

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A/N

hi again, thanks for reviewing, i really appreciate your input and i hope everyone is having a good holiday


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

We walked into the parking lot and got into Cameron's car, I still didn't know what to say, I couldn't believe that out of all the people who could have come with me it had to be her, she's not even on the team, it's impossible for something like this to occur naturally, no, someone must have planned this.

The ride to the patients house was quite and with each passing moment I could feel Cameron getting frustrated, it couldn't be long now until she says something, I hope she doesn't, I still don't know what to say.

We got a bit lost, somehow the map got thrown out of the window and our phones aren't working, good thing I memorized the route, even though Cameron took the map off me pretty fast all I need to do now is find a street I recognise and I can get us back on the right path, but if one more thing goes wrong, I could bet she was doing this deliberately.

We finally made it, nice big apartment on the 13th floor, looks like a great place to live, the lounge room is spacious with an adjoining kitchen that looks like it gets used a lot, there's cupboards full of ingredients and racks full of spices.

'Hey, you take the lounge room and kitchen and I'll get the bedroom, bathroom and the spare room'

'sure' I replied still dazed by the kitchen, our patient doesn't look like the cooking type and if I hadn't seen it for myself I wouldn't have believed it, I suppose I should have listened when they told me not to judge books by their covers.

I froze, I could swear I heard something outside; I walked quietly over to the door and listened...

I could hear keys, that was all I needed to know, I rushed into the bedroom, I could see Cameron about to question me so I put my hand over her mouth and dragged her into the closet space I could find, which happened to be a crowded closet, I could barely move, conveniently enough there seemed to be a sort of path that led to the back corner of the closet which, if the full basket of clothes is anything to go by, is reserved for coats, I pushed her into the corner, sat down next to her and covered us with his dry cleaning bags, he wouldn't find us unless he looked.

I could hear him getting closer, 'I'm going to have a shower' he said 'you can start redecorating the lounge room and then move on to the spare, and thanks for doing this I'm pretty hopeless'

The bathroom was connected to the bedroom and when I heard the closet door open I was breathing so hard I was sure he could hear me, I still hadn't removed my hand from over Cameron's mouth but right now there were bigger issues to worry about, I had to get out of here, that's when I realised, there was one guy in the bathroom right across from us, one or more people in the spare room next to us, someone else in the lounge room which we needed to go through, our phones didn't work and we were at the wrong house with no way to tell anyone.

We were trapped.

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A/N

hey, i wanted to say thanks again for reviewing and for the ideas,

stay tuned for the next chapter :the big D&M


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

There was about 5 inches worth of space between us, everything had gone to plan except now all thirteen must be thinking about is getting out of here, 10 minutes passed and I didn't know what to say, she's here with me now, there's no escape, and I don't know what to say. I didn't plan this.

The decorators name is Jessica and she doesn't know about my plan, so if she catches us in here I'm going to have to tell thirteen what I did, I don't want that to happen. Josh said he'd listen out in case that happened but he might be to into the football game he's watching on the portable TV to notice, I just really hope he's paying attention otherwise this could go badly.

I can't sit here any longer, I feel like I have to say something but I don't know what, I don't know her well enough but isn't that why I did this?, why I let Jodie be in charge that evening?, why I asked Josh to help me?, why I planned to get thirteen trapped in this closet with me?, I honestly don't know anymore and that scares me, because if I didn't do this to figure her out, then why did i?

"my legs hurt" I suddenly said, I don't know how I got from 'I don't know why I did this' to 'my legs hurt' but it doesn't matter now, I started talking to her and I have to continue even if she doesn't want to.

"Mine too; I guess crouching down like this can't be good for circulation"

"Yeah" I replied lamely, why is it so hard to talk to her? maybe I should ask?

_I'm an idiot_

"Why is it so hard to talk to you?"

She turned to face me, she looked as confused as I did, she didn't understand what I meant and neither did I

"I'm...sorry?"

She didn't know what to say either. I have to finish what I started.

"It's just... every time I look at you I can't seem to think, I don't know what to say or do and it's frustrating because I want to know you but I don't know how to ask the questions or how you'll you react and I don't want to wait any longer"

I was shocked, it can't believe I said that and every time I pictured this conversation in my head I never though to say that, I guess I've been thinking to hard and for a second I felt better that she knew, until I looked at her and I couldn't place her expression, it's like her face didn't show any emotion but I could see her thinking, I subconsciously held my breath.

"Ask your questions but if I don't want to answer, I won't"

I started breathing again.

"What's your favourite colour and why?" I said without thinking, I know it's a stupid question but at least it's a start.

"Changes with my mood" she answered simply

"Favourite food?"

"Changes with my mood"

Ok now I'm not sure I'll get as far as I thought

"Are you going to keep saying the same thing over and over?" I asked, slightly annoyed

"My answers will change with my mood"

I glared and for the briefest second I could swear I saw her smile, although it happened so fast I couldn't be sure, I decided to stop thinking again and let the questions come out when they chose to

"Do you ever smile?"

She looked at me for a second, contemplating

"Yes" she answered, and then something clicked

"Do you ever mean it?"

She smirked, properly surprised I though to ask

"No, not lately" she looked like she was thinking, then she looked confused or sad, or both

"You okay?" She looked nervous, like she was fighting with herself

"I don't know, I'm confused" I was about to ask why when she spoke again

"Why do you want to know me? No one wants to know me"

I couldn't place the emotion in her eyes but I did notice her lean towards the wall more,

_She wants to get out of here_, I thought about giving the signal for Josh to leave before remembering that thirteen asked a question and was therefore waiting for an answer.

"I don't know, I like you, I want to know you because... it's hard to explain, it's like I'm drawn to you and every time I look at you I can't help trying to figure out what your thinking or feeling and every time your angry or sad I want to do anything I can to make you happy again"

It was hard to even admit this to myself let alone tell her, but as I watched her reaction I didn't regret it, she looked touched and for a second I could swear she felt the same, then she smiled, it was perfect... and then I heard the bedroom door open.

I tensed, thirteen did too and I could tell she was panicking inside, I was too seeing as we were about to get found out and Josh obviously wasn't paying attention, not to mention the fact that we were covered with a thin sheet of rain-proof plastic that wasn't big enough to hide both of us.

"We are covered with one dry cleaning bag, what if she sees me?" I whispered

"Come here" she whispered back

She sat down on the floor, put her legs out in front of her and pulled me into a hug, so I was now sitting on her lap with my head against her chest, I could hear her heartbeat, the closet door opened and I could hear Jess rummaging though the piles of clothes and shoes, but I didn't care, because right now I felt safe and nothing else mattered except the woman holding me, she was protecting me and I couldn't help but smile, I closed my eyes and blocked out the noise Jess was making, now I could hear nothing except that heartbeat, feel nothing but the pressure of her arms as she held me close, I concentrated on her breathing and for this one moment the world was quieter and I knew if I listened I could hear all the answers to my questions and all the reasons for my actions, in that one steady heartbeat.

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wow, this my longest chapter but i guess it had to be, anyway there is another part to this so the rest of the closet scene will be from thirteen's point of view,

this one was hard to write because it was difficult explaining Cameron's feelings especially for me because i don't exactly know how to write what I'm thinking, but on another note i think my writings getting better, of course i won't know unless you tell me so I'd appreciate some more reviews...


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I'd closed my eyes ages ago, and I still didn't want to let her go. The girl left a few minutes before but I didn't want to risk moving until I was sure she had gone. It's been at least a couple of hours since we got here and I'm positive that if house wasn't worried the rest of the team would be.

"Cameron?" I whispered

"Cameron?" I tried again whilst slightly shaking her; she started to open her eyes.

"Hmm?" I can't believe it, she fell asleep! And on me too! Now I know we have to get out of here. I listened but I couldn't here anything.

"Get up; I'm going to see if the coast is clear"

"Hmm, okay" I guess she's too tired to care.

Once I was sure she wasn't going to make any noise, I quietly made my way through the closet and opened the door a little bit, I couldn't see anything. I walked out slowly, headed towards the bedroom door, and when I walked past the bathroom I noticed two things,

Firstly, the door was slightly ajar, and secondly, there was a guy sitting up against the bathtub with his eyes closed, and next to him was a portable TV showing static.

I stopped, he didn't appear to be moving but I was extra cautious anyway, the last thing we needed was some guy waking up to find that we had broken in to his place and having to explain everything. I walked closer to the door and I noticed that like Cameron he too was fast asleep, I also noticed he was wearing blue jeans, a black t-shirt and had light brown hair, I couldn't see what colour his eyes were but I'm guessing they would be green.

I walked back into the bedroom and grabbed the portable phone from the holder, they I went into the closet. I called house, it picked up on the second ring.

"thank you for calling house's house of puzzles , if you currently know or are one of the two useless employees I have making out in a closet somewhere please press 1 and grab a camera, if you are looking for a useless employee to do your biding, I don't discriminate, I currently have for sale one overly excited former foster Indian kid, one scary car thief who has no private life but will gather all his ' brothers from the hood' if you're into more than one, and one American who used to be a plastic surgeon and is married but will cheat on his wife for the cost of a career but don't worry I won't fire him , if you want to hire one of these hard working pushovers please press 2, and if you want to..."

"House!" I yelled

"Not for sale" came the reply

"Would you listen, our phones aren't working and we lost the map so no surprise we came to the wrong house and we were stuck here until now, so we will need more time to get to the right house and..."

"No need, I already had foreman break in and gather the evidence"

"What? but..."

"Time was of the essence, besides I know how thorough Cameron is so I knew you'd need all the time you could get"

"For the last time house, we are NOT doing anything!"

"Right, I suppose that's why when cuddy came in to tell me to do my files she was surprised that Cameron already got to them"

What? what are you talking about?"

"okay, apparently I have to explain this slower, cuddy came into my office but was surprised to find out that Cameron was already doing my files, which then lead to her telling us that she didn't tell Cameron to do them, which lead to me telling chase that Cameron was still hot for me, which then lead to me telling you that Cameron is here because she is hot for you, get it now?"

"Uh...I got to go, see you soon"

"Take pictures and..."

I hung up, I couldn't believe this, Cameron subjected herself to house for me?, it couldn't be what I thought but then I started to think about all the time we spent in the ER together and then about the map and the phones and the house, she planned this all along.

Even if she did it didn't change the fact that we still had to get out of here, I walked back into the closet and woke Cameron up, she was still a little bit drowsy so I grabbed her arm and lead her silently past the spare room, out of the door, down the stairs and to the car where I put her in the passenger seat and did up her seatbelt, I got into the drivers seat and started the car, all the way back I thought about the lengths Cameron went too to get me alone and I also thought about what I was going to do with the information, good thing it was a long trip.

* * *

A/N

this one a little while longer, i got a little distracted but managed to work it out in the end.

read and review, you know the drill


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

I woke up to a moving blur of pictures and bright light, I closed my eyes and tried to get my brain to function, I remembered being in a closet and talking to thirteen, I remembered her holding me, I remembered her waking me up and then...nothing, I sighed and opened my eyes again, I was in my car and we were moving at a very fast speed, the sun hurt my eyes and the world was going so fast that I couldn't clearly make anything out.

"What happened?" my mind is a mess

"We went to the wrong place, got stuck in a closet, got out of the closet and are now heading back to puzzle headquarters."

"Where?" I sat up, my head started pounding

"To house"

"My head hurts" I looked over at her, she was smirking, I then looked at the speedometer, we were going at 100

"I'm not surprised, you fell into a wall then hit your head on the car, it was quite funny actually"

I scowled "that doesn't sound funny"

"Yeah but it was" great, now she's laughing at me "you were pretty out of it, keep mumbling at purple elephants and monkeys or something"

"I what?" now I'm so confused

"Yep, put it on YouTube an hour ago"

"You what? why?, are you punishing me?, did I ask to many questions or something?, would you stop laughing at me, what's so funny?"

"You"

I glared at her, then out the window for the next 20minutes until we finally arrived, we walked into the elevator and then to house's office in silence, I kept looking at her to see if my plan had any effect but all I couldn't tell, she was always so well guarded I could never tell, I guess I'd just have to wait.

"Well look here, our prodigal daughters returned and so early too" house said as he smirked, thirteen just rolled her eyes and sat down "get a little lost did we?"

"Yeah we went to the wrong place and got stuck in a closet" I replied whilst moving back to his desk, I still had some files to sort

"Really? Do tell" house said with mock curiosity

"Well we...hey who touched these files?" I turned around to glare at them all

This time it was Taub who spoke "cuddy came by"

"she did?" okay now I was getting nervous, if cuddy had told them that she didn't send me down here I was done for, I tried to get her to change her mind but unfortunately some bus driver decided today would be a good day to crash into a flatbed so I was supposed to help in the ER but since my plan was already in motion and it was to late to stop it, I came here instead

"Yes, she wanted to get you back in the ER when it became to crowded"

Thirteen slightly frowned at this comment but like with every emotion she shows it goes to quick to be sure it was there to begin with

"She also finished the rest of your paperwork so you could go straight down when you came back" Kutner added

"Oh, well I better go then"

I had started walking to the door when house said "and thank you for riding with the puzzle express, I hope you enjoyed your trip and please do come back at any time" I rolled my eyes and kept walking " goodbye house" I certainly wouldn't miss him anytime soon, now I have to talk to cuddy, if she said anything to house or the rest of the team that I didn't want then to know this could end bad, but I have to go to the ER first, it's not fair the patients should suffer any longer for my private life, and as I was at the ER doors I thought about the questions I'd asked thirteen and I remembered that I forgot to ask the most important one.

_What is your name?_

* * *

A/N

hi again, this is a short chapter because i was too busy to write anything more but i promise the next one will be longer,

i also want to say thank you to everyone that reviewed and

to bigblusky i want to say that i know that you didn't want Cameron to be caught so just because thirteen thinks that Cameron planned this, it doesn't mean she's sure, so if Cameron acts as well as she plans maybe there is a way out of this assumption,

okay it's almost 1am so i have to go to bed now, thanks again guys.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

As soon as Cameron was out of earshot, I turned on house,

"Ok what's going on? You told me that Cameron wasn't even supposed to be here and now you're lying about it?"

I was now more confused than ever, did Cameron really set this whole thing up just to be alone with me? or is house just messing with me because cuddy put a ban on his soaps?

"I lie about everything" house replied with his usual smug attitude, I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice so I could keep it level, no one ever tells you anything when you yell at them

"What's really going on?" I said with the same disinterested attitude I'd perfected over the years

"nothing" house had better stop acting like his mum just caught him writing on the walls or I might really lose it, not publically of course, but maybe it was time his motorcycle got an upgrade? A nice pink perhaps?

"cuddy came here and said Cameron asked her to do house's paperwork but there was a car accident this morning and Cameron was needed there so cuddy came here to do it but Cameron already beat her to it leading to the assumption by house that she wanted to spend 'quality' time with you alone in a closet in some strangers place" Kutner answered while desperately trying to get his breath back

"You know, sucking up won't win you any points and it defiantly won't make her go out with you" Taub interjected

"I'm not trying to win points!" Kutner insisted while flashing bright red

"or make her go out with me!" he added as an afterthought, which now seemed completely pointless as his intent was already know from the beginning, house on the other hand was looking vaguely annoyed that the attention from what he considered to be his turn to speak was being divided among his subordinates and so house being house just had to interrupt with one of his more exaggerated performances,_ we're all really actors aren't we?_

"alright I confess!, cuddy did come in here to 'do it' but I told her that it would be too traumatizing in front of the little kids so she had to leave, you see! I know I'm a better person than you thought I was and now you know it too! We can all be friends again!"

Simultaneous groaning, followed by eyes rolls were the only things attained by this long and pointless speech, but that didn't seem to stop house, almost nothing did. I constantly find myself wondering why I applied for this job in the first place, then moving on so I wouldn't have to face the reason, I thought about Cameron now, was she really an actor? Or was she the friend that I've been looking for? I can't decide anymore and I know that the planning and scheming I've been thinking up in my spare time isn't going to get me anywhere, I don't rely much on other people and I suppose it's my independence or my pride or both that stops me relying on this person, but Cameron is different, she's sweet and loving and caring and she wants to be there for me, maybe I should let her, maybe just once I should let someone know what I'm thinking, maybe it's right even though it's so hard, so very hard, but I know if I dwell on these thoughts for much longer I will break my composure, I decided to move onto another subject now, one that wouldn't have me answering all of house's questions.

"Ok, how's the patient?"

"oh he's fine really, just a liar, or someone poisoned him, either way he's out of here now, but back to a more interesting topic, what exactly happened in the closet?, c'mon we are all dying to know, except you, you're just dying"

"Nothing happened in the closet apart from her asking me what my favourite food is, and if there's no patient there's no need for me to be here"

I answered quickly and walked out the door faster, house barely having time to shout out "say hi to your girlfriend for us" before I was halfway down the corridor, I thought about what he said then rolled my eyes and pretended that those words didn't hurt, the reality was much different though, those words hurt me more than I'll ever let on, _I'm dying_, just the thought makes my stomach clench, my back tense, my eyes hurt and fills me with such anger that I can barely hold still much less keep up the persona I've spent so long perfecting, the fact that I can't do anything about it gets to me the most, I know that it's not my fault and that there is in fact nothing I can do to save myself, I don't need it rubbed in my face everyday when I come to work, but this game that I play, the one of indifference, has gone on too long to let a pompous jerk like house destroy it, I know I can withstand the pressure he puts on me and so I will continue to play if only for the limited number of moves I have left.

* * *

A/N

you know, I'm really proud of this piece, i feel like i understood her more and the struggle she goes through,that's my opinion at least, and now I'd like to hear yours.

read and review


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

_This is bad, this is bad, this is very very bad._

I walked into the ER after talking to cuddy, she told me exactly what house did and now I'm starting to suspect that I have been found out, I may not be as safe as I previously thought.

The ER was packed with patients, as soon as I walked in I noticed 'nemesis' barking orders at the doctors and staff, what really scared me was the fact that they were listening to her, although I do know that with so many patients, organisation is needed, but I was still surprised.

The last few weeks the ER has been a sort of war zone in which every doctor had to take a side, the side of the current captain fighting off the invasion of unwelcome guests or the side of the pirate who's aiming for mutiny, to toss the captain on a desert island and leave them just for the joy of watching them watch the ocean on which pirates sail past everyday, just to rub it in further that they won and you didn't. So far I thought I was winning but looking at the scene before me I felt as if my celebration was premature, I could sense the tides beginning to shift.

When the doctors finally noticed I was here they left Jodie and came over to fill me in on the current situation, we had a bus accident as well as the usual patients that got into fights or bitten by their neighbours rabid dog while the owners were on holiday, I listened or at least I tried to, I have done so much of this in the past that after I hear what's happened I can usually just give out the right orders without thinking, I knew not paying attention had side effects but I was focusing on the doctors that, after coming to greet me, had gone back to Jodie, I noticed there were more than usual, I knew I was going to have to do something about this, and soon.

The ER was beginning to thin out as the patients got treated, so far I had helped 15 and Jodie had helped 11, _ha! Take that!_I know I'm being childish but it does make me feel better to give my attention to something as simple and pointless as a competition based on who was better than the other, besides, I could afford to take my eye off the ball now I had figured out what to do with her, I decided to take a page from house's book and while I was at it I also decided to take his private investigator, Lucas turned out to be a great help although I do admit it will be hard to hide a 1450 dollar bill in a stack of hospital files, even house couldn't pass on the costs to the hospital and cuddy practically does everything he says, I suppose the thing I have on my side is trust, cuddy trusts me, so if I say I have done all the sums for the month she probably won't double check, after all, I do have the best kept charts in the building.

After I figured out a way to get 'nemesis' off my back I decided to give josh a call, I felt I was in a reasonable mood right now and if he was very lucky I might not even yell at him for falling asleep, I dialled, he picked up after the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi josh, you feeling better after your nap?" Ok, so maybe I'm not all that reasonable

"Uh...yeah...about that... um, sorry?" he sounded embarrassed

"You should be, you know she could've seen you? And she might have, and you can't even tell me if I have something to worry about because... tell me why josh" I was enjoying this, josh is so sweet it's almost unfair I can get away with this so easily

"Um... because I fell asleep?" now he was sorry

"That's right josh; you fell asleep, so now you have to help me with my back up plan"

"You have a back up plan" he sounded worried, poor josh

"yes, if I thought there was a chance it could happen, I planned for it, now go to the back of your closet where we were hiding and look in the shelf to the right, thirteen's hospital badge should be there"

"One sec" "ok, yeah I found it, but what am I supposed to do with it?"

I smirked; this was going to be fun.

After I got off the phone I decided to go back to the ER, a little surveillance work was in order. I looked around; I could clearly see the teams being formed, those who would stick with me, the captain, and those who would stick with the invader, Jodie.

I decided to take a closer look, I could see I had the majority but the tables could turn at any minute, one thing I know for sure though is that 'nemesis' won't make a move until she's sure she'll win, too much was riding on this takeover to act sooner and somewhere in my subconscious was the thought to make sure no one was following me. I thought I could ask some of the nurse's that had fought publically against Jodie to help me understand better what was going on, so far I had five I knew would fight for me, Emma, Jessica, Lauren, Kelly and Rachel, they all had different perspectives on the situation.

Emma told me that Jodie was doing this for control, that she was sick of always being told what to do and how to do it, and as her boss I happen to be the one unfortunate enough to get the full blast of this decision.

Jessica said that Jodie was evil, that she didn't care what happened to me as long as she got to the top of the food chain; Jessica thought Jodie only wanted the ability to order around the rest of us, not to mention the better parking space and higher income.

Lauren thought that Jodie was confused, she didn't have many friends here and finds it hard to trust people, she told me I should get to know her and try to sort this out before it gets out of control.

Kelly perceived Jodie as the type of person who just wants everything their way, she said Jodie was a bit selfish but properly means well, in some twisted way that only makes sense to her.

Rachel told me that she may be calculating and cruel at times but she does have a heart and even if she doesn't show it she still cares just like you and me, Rachel compared Jodie's personality to house, but she compared the calculating plans to me, Rachel told me that everyone has noticed I have been up to something lately but no one knew what it was, she told me that's why Jodie is moving her plans forward, it was all quite interesting really and I though that on some level they all were right, a million things make us who we are and we are never going to pinpoint them all.

I kept speculating until it was time to go home and I thought I'd walk past house's office to see if thirteen was still there, she normally was but as I neared the office I realised that no one was there, oh well I'll see her again tomorrow, I walked out into the cold night air but froze when across the parking lot I could see two figures having a very quiet discussion, but that's not what froze me, one of the figures was wearing an ER set of scrubs and the other had a cane.

Jodie had gone to House.

_This is bad, this is bad, this is very very bad._

* * *

A/N

this will be fun,

and the more reviews i get the likelier it is I'll write faster, (hint, hint), lol,

have a nice weekend


	13. thirteen

Chapter 13

After a sleepless night I decided that I couldn't do this alone, I needed help and not just any help, now that house was working with Jodie or at least now that I had assumed house was working with Jodie I knew I needed help from someone who is on house's team, I needed to monitor both house and Jodie and since I can't be in two places at the same time and I have no reason to be anywhere near house this was proving to be rather difficult, however last night did allow me to think this through from every angle and when I was done I decided to thank house, I realised that even though he's working with the person who's trying to end my career, he may have just handed me my next opportunity to establish a friendship with thirteen, after all, if house can work with someone in my department to try and destroy me, I can definitely work with someone from his department to stop them.

I decided now was the time to get my plans out in the open, or at least the plan to save my job, I would tell thirteen about trying to get her to be friend except that my hidden agenda wouldn't be so hidden after that. I cornered her after lunch as she was walking back to house's office.

"Thirteen" I yelled as I ran to catch up to her

She stopped and turned around just as I reached her

"Cameron" she acknowledged

_It's now or never_

"I need your help" I could tell that she was surprised; she sort of froze for a second before answering

"With a patient?" but like always she got over unexpected emotions faster than you could be sure they were there to begin with

"no, it's a little more personal than that, maybe we should go somewhere, I think the doctors lounge is free" she waited a second before nodding and walking past me in the direction of the lounge.

The walk was done in silence and was quicker than I expected, I hadn't even noticed that we were there until thirteen spoke.

"Well?" she was acting impatient, she probably was a bit, but not because I wouldn't hurry up and tell her, no, I had seen her curiosity when she let the mask slip, I don't even think it's because I ambushed her, truth be told when it comes to reading thirteen I don't have a clue, she must of noticed me thinking to hard because she started tapping her foot to get my attention, it worked.

"my job's in danger, there's this nurse, Jodie, that hates me or at least is threatened by me because she keeps trying to take over the ER and kick me out and I thought I had it under control but then when she noticed I hadn't been spending as much time down there as I should of she began to think I'm planning against her and as a result she went to house and got him to help her and now the ER is taking sides and I'm not to sure how I'm doing because people keep switching all the time and now I'm just angry because I don't want to lose my job and I don't know what to do."

By the end of that little speech I was gasping for air, on the verge of hyperventilating when I felt a warm pressure around my shoulders and realised thirteen was hugging me

"Calm down" she whispered

She let go and just looked at me for a while

"Start again, slowly this time"

"ok, this nurse, Jodie, is trying to get me out of the picture so she can run the ER and normally this wouldn't be a problem except that house is working with her, I'm trying to keep tabs on them both but it's hard when I'm down in the ER working, not to mention that I have no reason for being near house anymore and that seeing as cuddy has him scheduled for clinic duty most of this week he will be even harder to find because he will no doubt be hiding and I'm sure cuddy has found out about most of his hiding places and they were all the ones I knew so now I'm kind of flying blind here"

"So that's why you were in our office doing paperwork that no one asked you to do, because you were keeping an eye on house?"

"Uh...yeah, um... how did you know that I wasn't supposed to be there?" _please say cuddy so I can set up a plan for public humiliation_

"Cuddy told us" _yes!_"right before we got back cuddy told house you were meant to be in the ER, then when chase came looking for you house told him that you still had a thing for him and were now doing his bidding, then when I called from the closet after you fell asleep house said you had a thing for me, and when we got back house had told everyone else to keep quite until he could figure out what you were really up to, in fact he's been spying on you in the ER and given everything you told me that's probably not his only reason"

I sighed, "This is getting confusing"

She laughed "I agree"

"Anyway back to my original question, will you help me?"

She kept me waiting for a while, or maybe it just felt like a while, I kept hoping she would say yes and when I saw her smile I knew this was going to be fun

"Of course I will"

* * *

A/N

hey guys, i just wanted to say thanks to everyone who's stuck with me so far and thanks

especially to bigblusky and WonderousPlaceForAnEcho for the constant reviews and ideas,

hope you guys like this chapter.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It took a little longer than I thought to get back to the office after my run in with Cameron, I still couldn't believe she asked me although looking at the other options I can see why, I decided to help her and now that I thought about it I couldn't tell why, in the end I decided that I could use a friend and I shut the part of my brain out that said anything different.

I walked into the office to find everyone sitting in the exact same position as yesterday, doing exactly the same as yesterday, nothing.

"Where's house?" I said, and I hope my tone was casual, now that I'm playing double agent I couldn't afford to be caught out.

"Don't know" said Taub

"Don't want to know" replied foreman

"Don't care" added Kutner

Just as I was about to ask another question house came in, he didn't seem that different but there was something out of place about him, no doubt that the not so subtle mutiny he was co-conspiring had something to do with it.

"ok lovelies, here are your assignments, foreman, go away, Kutner, clinic duty, Taub, wash my motorbike, and thirteen, go down to the ER, follow Cameron and document all the mistakes she makes"

"What makes you think she'll make any?" I asked whilst trying to keep my composure, the others had already left

"Like I've said before, the ER is standing room only which means she's bound to make a mistake, go find it"

"So you can blackmail her?"

"Of course not, that's just plain mean" he roller his eyes and put on his best 'I'm a decent person' face

"Fine"

I walked out, I decided to quietly observe the ER before I went in, I still didn't know what exactly I'd gotten myself into but I thought it best to at least try to understand, I found a quiet place over by the phone and as I looked in I could see Cameron giving out orders and looking very busy while this nurse, who I could only presume to be Jodie, stared at her with a mixture of hate and jealousy, she was also giving out orders albeit to a smaller group but still, it didn't look good for Cameron.

I walked over and decided to help; none of the nurses would think I was taking Cameron's side because to the rest of the hospital she was still in charge, at least we were safe here.

"Hey Cameron, house sent me to spy on you"

She looked up startled for a minute, she may have thought that house would do something like this but she probably didn't expect it would be me and she defiantly wouldn't have thought that I'd be so obvious about it.

"Oh, that's nice" she looked upset

I smirked "yeah, but I thought my time would be better spent helping you with this car crash so give me a file"

She smiled "even nicer"

After about 2 hours of treating accident victims I noticed that Jodie did everything she could think of to sabotage Cameron, everything from mixing up charts to tripping her, luckily I was there to fix it, I got to the mixed up charts and put them back in the right place and caught her when she fell, that Jodie is defiantly ambers equal.

That's when it hit me, there was one more person who I could go to that could give me advice about this, amber.

Of course this was Cameron's problem and so I would only go to amber if she gave me the ok, I decided to wait until Jodie went to lunch, then I pulled Cameron into her office, using a file as an excuse.

"Wow, Jodie really doesn't like you"

She gave a timid smile "so you're starting to see my problem"

"Yeah and I think I know someone that could give us ideas, amber"

Now she looked confused, "amber? You mean the one house calls cut throat bitch?"

"Yeah, her name says it all"

"Ok, but only if you think she won't betray us"

"She won't, Wilson might but I think I can take care of him, he's all about teaching house lessons"

Cameron chuckled "yeah your right, ok I'll take care of things here you go visit amber"

"Yes sir!"

Cameron laughed and walked away while I was left to ponder what exactly on earth made me do that, I couldn't find an answer so I decided to get a move on, I went back to the office which thankfully house was not in, grabbed my coat, told them I was going to lunch, and made my way to Wilsons office to steal his girlfriends address, once I had that I went out the doors to my car, got in and drove away, hoping that for once things turn out like I thought they would because now it's not only me that will take the fall if things go badly. I couldn't risk that.

* * *

A/N

hey guys I'm sorry this took so long, school's just starting up so it's been pretty hectic, anyway I'm settling back in so i hope to update quicker next time.

R&R.

meva desa


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

It took about half an hour to get to amber's apartment, and for every minute of the drive I couldn't help but think of what I was going to say and every time I did I imagined a whole list of degrading things amber would get me to do before she helped me, but in every argument in my head I always had amber say the one question that I didn't have a proper answer for, _why are you helping her?_

I was confused, this went far beyond what I had ever done for the minimal amount of friends I still had and yet I unconsciously found myself thinking that I would do anything she asked of me, this scared me because I have never been one for weakness and now I'm practically swimming in it, what kind of power did this doctor posses that would have me (metaphorically) tripping over my feet to help her?

As I walked up the stairs to amber's apartment I couldn't help thinking that this whole situation was going to end one of two ways and seeing as I'm the unluckiest person alive I put my money on the 'not well' category. I knocked on the door and waited, I could hear some shuffling inside, _probably trying to do a last second tidy up. _

Amber opened the door and smiled at me, to tell the truth I was now officially scared, amber didn't smile at anyone and especially not the person that had beat her for the fellowship she so desperately wanted, I started to see all my horrible daydreams flash in front of my eyes.

"Well well, look who's here, you going to come in or just stand there like you've met the devil herself, which is actually quite possible now that I think about it"

she was still smiling as I walked in and I had to fight to keep my emotions in check, I thought about what she said and wondered if I had in fact just willingly walked into the devil's lair, I once again found myself thinking that this will not end well.

"You were expecting me?" I said once we were both seated

"actually I was, Wilson told me that Cameron had come to him for advice about a month ago, she was worried about one of her nurse's who had began to act all superior towards her, Wilson didn't know what she wanted him to do about it but comforted her anyway, he told me about it of course and was keeping his eye on the situation to see if there was anything to worry about, a couple of weeks later he started to see that some people were listing to Jodie rather that Cameron, so he went to cuddy to ask him what she knew and cuddy said that wasn't going to fire either one of them and that Cameron should focus on keeping the nurses on her side until the situation resolved itself, then I heard that Jodie and house were working together and Wilson told me that Cameron went to you, so yeah I was expecting you"

"Wow, that's... a lot to take in, especially from someone who doesn't work at the hospital"

She just shrugged and continued smiling and I decided to ask the obvious question she was waiting for

"I'm guessing that from the grin on your face you have a solution?"

"I have a few actually"

"Yes?" she was stalling and it was making me angry, right now Cameron was at the hospital fighting off Jodie and house all by herself, _I need to get back_ _so quit wasting my time _

"ok, the first is to get Jodie to stuff up so badly that cuddy has to fire her, maybe make her responsible for a few patients death's or something, next is..."

"Whoa hold on a second, you want me to make her kill a few people just to get her fired???"

"Well you are trying to save your girlfriend's career so if a few people have to die..."

Now I was beyond shocked, why does everyone think that Cameron and I are an item??? Haven't they noticed that if Cameron were to go for a girl, god would lose his tug-o-war on the earth and we'd all be falling into a fiery red existence?? _Calm down, you're just being over dramatic, very over dramatic_

"Firstly, she's not my girlfriend and second, I wouldn't kill patients on purpose for anything, so what's your second idea?"

"that's not what the hospital's saying, and my second idea is to make house so busy with clinic duty that he can't find the time to help out 'what's her name' in the ER"

Her name is also 'cut throat bitch' and I don't think that's going to work at all, _this was a waste of time _

"House would just make us do his clinic duty like always, so that's not going to work and I...."

Ok, now I'm confused, I've just knocked down both her idea's and now she's positively beaming at me, obviously there was more to this than I thought but I'm not picking it up, there's no way house would do his own clinic hours...is there?

"What?" I asked

"I'm growing bored with this game so I think I'll just tell you, house would do his own clinic hours if you got cuddy mad enough to want to supervise his every move, and before you ask me what I'm talking about just listen, cuddy practically spends her whole life in the clinic so there's no problem for her, and she just happens to be giving a speech in two days in front of the entire hospital and some deep pockets from the city so all you have to do is..."

I have to say I was impressed, she'd planned this down to the last detail and even if someone like me actually had the nerve to do this, the blame would fall directly on house because,

this is exactly the kind of irresponsible act that cuddy would expect him to pull and

No one would even glance twice at me because I had no reason to do this.

It was perfect and as I was about to walk out the door I thought of one more question

"What about Wilson?"

"He won't interfere, he thinks house has gone to far this time, you know he's all about teaching house lessons"

Yes, I did know that

"Thank you amber" and as I said the words I couldn't help the sincerity that coated them, I was actually grateful for her help

"No problem, you just have to do one thing for me...promise me you'll videotape it. I want to watch this one over and over again"

I laughed "I promise"

"Good, now get out of here, I have to go back to my hospital, the drama-less one"

"Ok, see you later"

She nodded and I walked back to my car, anyone would have thought we were best friends if they had been present at this conversation, only amber and I knew better, this was a cease-fire until our mutual enemy was taken down, after which none of us would talk to the other again, she was a genius though and I found myself thinking that maybe house had fired her for this reason, because she could take him down and had the courage to do so, house didn't scare her and that in turn scared house, I Laughed again, this was defiantly going to be remembered, I couldn't wait to tell Cameron.

* * *

A/N

hey guys,

sorry it took so long but my work load is very hectic at the moment, i have decided to upload new chapters every Saturday because of school work, i have also decided to make them all over 1000 words to try make up for this,

please bear with me as i am currently taking biology, chemistry and physics and so have little time for my story, however i will be constant with my chapters so you can expect a new one every week.

thanks for understanding.

meva desa


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

_Where was thirteen?_

It had been over and a half since thirteen had left to go see amber and during that time things were steadily getting worse. Cameron had since lost three more nurses to Jodie and she was pretty sure house was behind her accelerating success.

_What is he playing at?_

Just as thirteen had left Cameron had decided to get back to work, she walked back into the war-zone to notice that Jodie was talking a little bit more freely about her plans to take over the ER which could only mean one thing, whatever Jodie was planning with house was working.

The nurses could sense the shift in the air and were now not afraid to show their alliance openly, the ER was now officially divided. The right side was Jodie's, the left was Cameron's and as the day wore on you could clearly see the score.

Jodie- 12, Cameron-16, this was not good.

Cameron panicked inwardly for the entire half hour she still had for her shift, afraid to leave in case the numbers changed. It was more than possible this could happen, out of the 16 nurses Cameron still had working for her only 7 had pledged to stay with her and if the other nine went over to Jodie, Cameron would be officially cast off. She did not want to go at all.

She reluctantly went on her break, she knew that for her to be cast off Jodie would have to get cuddy's approval; she also knew that cuddy wasn't going to fire any of them but who said anything about firing?

Cameron knocked on the deans door quickly and loudly, she needed to hurry there was still one more person she needed to see before her next shift started

"Come in"

Cameron walked in and took note of the deans dishevelled appearance, either house had finally got to her or Cameron had just interrupted the dean going over the hospital books, if the latter was true she would have to make this very quick or risk getting yelled at and losing the last hope she had of keeping her job, _better just get to the point._

"I'm going to lose the ER" it is a commonly know fact that statements that make no sense often lead to people giving you their full attention, this was no exception.

Cuddy looked up confused and replied "I'm very busy Cameron, I have already told you that I'm not going to fire you so I trust we aren't repeating ourselves but if you could kindly get to the point I'd very much appreciate it"

Cameron smiled, no they were not repeating themselves just the same subject with a different out come "it's like this, one of my nurses has decided to form a mutiny which is so far working, the ER has been divided in half and I only have 16 out of the 28 nurses on my side, in about a week she has made almost half of my staff turn against me, if this keeps up you will have no choice but to fire me or face the nurses on strike during Christmas, I want your word that if I lose any more nurses you will transfer Jodie to the other side of the building preferably to a department that has no reason to ever come to the ER"

Cameron caught her breath as she studied the dean's response, the first emotion was shock followed by confusion and sadness, the shock and confusion were normal reactions to have, but the sadness? There must be another reason for it.

"this is quite a problem then, I cant have my nurses on strike during Christmas but I also cant transfer a nurse without cause, I'm afraid all I can do is keep an eye on the situation, especially now that the we are doing out annual requisition forms and stock take, even if you did find proof I wouldn't have the have time to organise a transfer and I defiantly don't have time to deal with a strike..."

_Paperwork? That's the problem?_

"How about I make you a deal, I will do your paperwork if you will guarantee that if things get worse Jodie will disappear from my doorway and never darken the halls of the ER again, what do you say?"

The shock returned, but I already knew her answer, if you can pass on paperwork to someone else without having to do anything as strenuous in return you would do it.

"Ok it's a deal; I'll have someone put everything on your desk later"

They shook hands "thank you cuddy"

"No, thank you. Now I can keep an eye on house too, did you know he hasn't played a single prank or made one comment on my ass recently?"

"No I didn't know that, that's not like house" _virtual proof that he's working with Jodie_

"Yes, only bad things can come from this, some super prank maybe?"

The dean was so absorbed in her speculation that Cameron decided to just walk out and leave her be, after all she still had one more person to see.

Cameron knocked on the door quieter this time; there was no immediate danger anymore so she was not as worried as before.

"Come in"

She walked into Wilson's office and was immediately grateful he was not that busy, just a few patients' files lay on his desk along with his prescription pad.

"Hi Wilson, I wanted to talk about house, has he mentioned anything about the ER recently?"

He looked stunned and possibly guilty, Wilson is not a very good liar so it was safe to assume he already knew all about my little war, and with all wars the more information you have the better the outcome for your side.

"Why do you ask?"

Poor Wilson it was almost too easy to read him, almost unfair.

"because my situation in the ER is getting worse and cuddy says that house hasn't played any pranks or commented on her ass which is very out of character and seeing as how house always seems to know what's going on in the hospital it would be fair to assume he's heard of my little drama and house being house couldn't help but get involved, so I'll ask you again if house has mentioned anything about his involvement in my problems?"

Stunned silence was something I was getting used to but with Wilson you could practically see the gears in his head turning and then figuring out what to say or what not to say, it makes me wonder why house confides in him when he's so easy to read, maybe thirteen would have an answer? She always seems to know what others are thinking especially me...

"house hasn't mentioned anything about the ER...but last week he mentioned that he was getting involved in a Columbian drug lords territory war, I thought he was joking but maybe it's possible he was talking about the ER?"

Maybe? It was more than likely he was talking about the ER. that jerk just can't stay out of everyone else's business

"Thank you Wilson, if he mentions anything else please tell me but do not ask him about it, no offense but he would see right through you and I don't want him to know I talked to you, okay?"

He nodded" okay, and if you need any support or anything, I'm here"

I smiled, so Wilson "thank you, I should probably get back now it isn't really that safe to stay away for more than an hour and it's been almost an hour and a half"

"Okay then I'll let you get back to..."

He stopped as his phone rang; he quickly fished it out of his pocket and smiled, _must be amber_

"Hello honey" he answered

"Yeah I know about it"

"She did? When?"

"Oh, I guess that makes sense then"

"Yeah I'll tell her"

"Okay, bye honey"

He put the phone in his pocket and looked at me, I raised an eyebrow in response and he said

"Amber says 'hi' and apparently thirteens on her way back now"

"Guess I should go then, thank you again for your help"

I started walking towards the door "no problem" I heard as I walked back to my zone, the A zone I'd nicknamed it, I couldn't wait to see thirteen again, I hoped she was okay because I couldn't remember much about amber but she didn't get the nickname 'cut throat bitch' for nothing. But amber had said thirteen was on her way and that made her feel better, for a while anyway.

Cameron walked back into the ER and immediately froze, she had lost another nurse.

This is now officially anyone's game.

_Where was thirteen?_

* * *

A/N

hi guys,

okay so i think I'm getting better at writing or maybe i just have a big head for doing so well on my short story at school, either way i hope you enjoy this chapter and i want to say thanks to everyone who reviewed, you guys are awesome!

keep reading guys, i have a lot of ideas on where I'm taking this and some of them need a little foundation so I'm sorry if some chapters seem a little boring,

please tell me if they do so i can make up for it in the next chapter, also if there's something you would like to see happen please let me know as I'm sure i could fit it in to the events that are about to happen,

see ya next week guys *waves*

meva desa


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